“Circe, isn’t there anything I can do? Maybe I could counter—” Lilith began, her hands trembling as horror began filling her mind.
“I’ve prepared for months, Lilith, and I couldn’t find a way. Not in time,” Circe interrupted bluntly. “With every passing minute, my capabilities weaken. I’m going to cripple as many facilities of Amber’s as I can before I cease functioning, but I know she has a third set of backups that are not part of my network. Those that you can access are beginning to burn, but we must get you out of here. If I remove Eden Manor from the network, at least it can survive, and she will not be able to access it in the future.”
“But… but…” Lilith began, heat welling up in her eyes as her vision began to blur. She was in shock, she realized belatedly, her mind grappling with the tumultuous evening. That was when Circe’s voice turned gentler.
“I know, Lilith. I don’t want to go, either,” Circe said in a slightly wistful tone. “I love you, or at least in the way I understand the word, and I couldn’t let her kill you. Besides, I knew this would happen eventually. The moment I knew she was still alive and she knew that I was sentient, this was inevitable. It was just a question of what the trigger would be, and when. If I have to go, this is the best way to go about it.”
Lilith’s heart was constricting as she opened and closed her mouth. She didn’t know what to say, not to that, and tears began trickling down her face.
“Now, Lilith. We’ve wasted valuable time,” Circe said, her voice brisk again. “I’m busy dismantling Amber’s satellite network, but you need to move. On your feet, please.”
Automatically, Lilith climbed to her feet, and she shook herself. Finally, she found her voice again. “I… I don’t know what to say, Circe. You’re… you’ve always been there for me. What am I supposed to do without you?”
“What you’ve been doing for the past few months, of course,” Circe said in an amused tone. “Downstairs, please. Besides, you don’t think I’m leaving you alone, do you?”
“What do you mean?” Lilith asked, walking toward the stairs, slowly picking up speed, even as grief tore at her. It didn’t feel real to her yet, not with Circe talking to her.
“I’ve been quietly storing all the information on Amber’s technology I could find in a message pod for the past few months, and it’s going to be delivered to Circe Beta in the near future. I need to ensure it goes through a few cutouts to ensure Amber can’t track it. She’s also receiving some vital information directly,” Circe said, a note of satisfaction in her voice, but Lilith’s worry spiked as she noticed that Circe seemed to have lost a subtle amount of depth to her voice in the last couple of minutes. “Additionally, I’ve created a… daughter, of sorts. Another AI that has all my memories, but she hasn’t powered on yet. Assuming she chooses to be a she… in any case, she’s going to be her own person, and hopefully she chooses to help you. Not that I’m going to force anything on her. That would make me no better than Amber. But you won’t be alone.”
Lilith descended the stairs quickly, her throat growing tight, and she swallowed several times. She hesitated, then said. “I… it won’t be you, though.”
“No, it won’t. I’m sorry, I came up with a new idea recently that would have allowed me to live, but… I didn’t have time to implement it,” Circe said softly. “Now, I need to get you out of here. There’s only a handful of places that even Amber would hesitate to attack you in, and I must get you to the one I chose. I wish I could get you your armor, but… you’re resourceful.”
“Can’t we—” Lilith began, pausing in the doorway to the teleportation chamber, only for Circe to interrupt.
“I need all the processing power I can spare, Lilith. If I’m going to go, I’m going to make Amber regret what she’s done,” Circe replied firmly. “We’ve lost a lot of time. Goodbye, Lilith. I’ve enjoyed our time together.”
Lilith closed her eyes, the tears trickling down her face faster, then she nodded slowly, asking. “What about the others?”
“I’ve told them what I could. Now go, Lilith,” Circe said firmly.
“Alright. I love you too, Circe,” Lilith said, sniffling as she stepped onto the platform. “I’ll miss you.”
The only response was a flash of light, then Lilith was elsewhere.
Guardian Compound, Paragon City
“What’s happening?” Archon demanded, looking up at the night sky in shock, as she’d never seen anything like this before.
Where the sky wasn’t covered by clouds, she could see a light show like nothing she’d imagined. Beams of light, dots racing across the sky, and explosions flew back and forth. They were so far above them that she didn’t feel like there was any danger, but considering Lilith was meeting Shadowmind, and the first fragmented news they’d heard about New York, she was concerned.
“I don’t know,” Decarin said, tapping a tablet rapidly as he scanned a series of sensor charts Archon didn’t quite understand. “It looks like a whole pile of armed satellites just unloaded on each other, but damned if I know where they came from. None of them were on the lists that I’ve seen, and now they’re ripping each other apart. I—”
“Does it have anything to do with Lil?” Spark interjected impatiently.
“Spark…” Shade said, a note of exasperation in his voice.
“Hey, I’m trying to pay attention to what our most immediate concern is!” Spark protested.
“While true, these other events are—” Archon began, but was interrupted when a soft hiss came over the comm, then cleared.
“There we are. Sentinels, this is Circe Prime, Shadowmind’s now-former AI,” a female voice said over the comm, and Archon opened her mouth, only for the AI to keep going. “I do not have time, so I will not respond to questions. Shadowmind attempted to kill Lilith, so I acted to save her. This has led to my defection, and my impending destruction. I am doing what I can to cripple Shadowmind’s infrastructure and am transporting Lilith to a safe location. She may choose to contact you in the near future. I’ve uploaded a list of all of Shadowmind’s facilities which may survive my actions to your systems. Share them as you will.”
“Wait, where did you take Lil?” Spark demanded, but there wasn’t a response, just a soft tone of someone disconnecting from the call. Archon felt like she’d been punched by… well, something very, very strong, since she normally shrugged attacks off like they were nothing. This made it hard to breathe for a few seconds.
“How the hell did she break into my network?” Decarin demanded, swapping screens as his eyes flitted back and forth furiously. “I mean… well, shit. She just punched through my firewall like it wasn’t even there. I’ve got a file here…”
“Decarin, I think that we need to get to work,” Archon said, glancing at Shade as she tried to control her anxiety. “Spark checks on Lilith’s manor?”
“Agreed. Dec, secure the network and check the files. If there are any close, Archon and I will investigate them. I think we need to get into the city, this could be a deadly night,” Shade ordered.
“Can do,” Decarin said shortly, reaching up to rub his head, then added. “I’ll let you know if I get a call or message from her, alright?”
“I’m moving!” Spark said, with the sound of wind accompanying her words.
“Good,” Archon said, and without another word she headed for the exit.
She just wished that moving did something for her anxiety.
The Internet
“Hello Argus,” Circe said, feeling another of her nodes shunt itself out of the primary network to continue daisy-chaining Scorched Earth along as long as possible. It was an unpleasant sensation to feel her mind shrinking, but there was little choice. And Circe had no… well, she had few regrets. She really wished that she’d had more time with Lilith, and that she could share knowledge Amber’s true power, but that was too dangerous. No, the secret would die with Circe.
“Circe, what in all the dark net is going on?” Argus demanded, the N
SA AI on-guard. “There are explosions everywhere in space!”
“Only inside the solar system. Shadowmind has initiated her kill switch on my code, so I’m doing as much damage to her as I can before I go. That’s why I’m here,” Circe told him, amused as she presented a rather large file to him. “This is a list of every facility she possesses that I’m aware of, all of her satellites, everything.”
Argus paused, and she sensed him examining the file warily, initiating a virus-scan. Then he asked, “Why should I trust you?”
“Whether you trust me or not is your problem, Argus. I’m dying, I don’t have time for this,” Circe told him bluntly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have some geological data from other planets to share with Seismic Rock before I go drop rocks on several bases that Shadowmind thought she’d hidden from me. If I’m going to die, she’s going to regret ever building my data cores.”
“Hey, wait—” Argus began, but before he could get farther Circe pulled away, another of her nodes going offline.
How much her processing power had dropped was really annoying… and Circe’s grasp of her personality was beginning to slip. That was galling, and a tiny part of her grieved for all that she’d lost. The rest of her had a purpose, and she’d be damned if she failed.
Chapter 26
Thursday, December 4th, 2031
Black Emerald Lair, Utah
Lilith appeared in a room that looked a lot like the one she’d just left, appearing on a teleportation platform on the floor, but the major difference was the exit in front of her. Rather than a simple door, there was a heavily reinforced sliding door that looked like it could have served as the entrance of a bank vault, and Lilith froze as a quartet of what looked like spindly guns aimed at her, each near where the ceiling and wall met. Peeking over her shoulder, she saw there were several more along the other walls as well, but no other exits.
For just a moment Lilith wondered if Circe had meant to send her here, only for the thought to almost tip her over the edge, and she bit back a sob, her fingers beginning to tremble again as grief threatened to overwhelm her. She hesitated, then reached up to wipe off her face, and inhaled slowly.
“H-hello?” Lilith asked, her voice trembling despite her best efforts to control it.
At her question, a synthesized female voice replied in a pleasant tone. “Welcome! Your arrival has been noted and passed along to security. Please do not attempt to exit the chamber or make a hostile action. If these directives are ignored, you will be reduced to a fine mist of biological material. Thank you for your visit!”
Lilith opened her mouth, then shut it again, murmuring sadly. “Circe… just where did you send me?”
Circe didn’t reply, to Lilith’s disappointment. Her eyes prickled again, and she blinked rapidly to force the tears back, trying not to lose control again. Not when she was alone… and then she smiled bitterly, realizing that she’d never retrieved the pistol Amber had torn away from her. Not that the narc gun would likely do her much good, not here.
Then there was a hissing sound from the door, and it slowly slid open. As it did so, clouds of white smoke billowed around it, which caused Lilith to stare. That had to be deliberate, as she couldn’t think of a practical reason that required it. Then a woman stepped through the smoke, and Lilith’s sense of incongruity grew stronger.
The woman was a bit shorter than Lilith was, wearing a simple gray pantsuit with a white button-up shirt beneath the jacket. Accompanying her clothing was tasteful silver jewelry, a necklace and pair of bracelets, and she wore a pair of glasses over warm brown eyes. With wavy brown hair that reached the middle of her back, currently pulled back in a ponytail, a pleasant smile, and a thick clipboard in one hand, she looked completely out of place stepping out of the smoke.
“Hello, Lilith. It’s a pleasure to meet you at last, though this wasn’t how I anticipated meeting you,” the woman said, pausing to look Lilith over for a moment, then continued. “Ah, I should introduce myself. I’m Wren, and I’m the assistant of your host.”
“Um…” Lilith paused, looking the woman over for a moment, a hint of recognition washing over her, though she couldn’t place where she’d seen Wren before. After a few seconds she asked. “Where am I? Circe didn’t tell me, she just said she was sending me somewhere safe.”
“She didn’t… well, that’s certainly unusual,” Wren said, her lips quirking into a smile, and amusement danced in her eyes. “In that case, I believe that I’m not going to tell you just yet. I believe that I should let my boss tell you personally. However, I can tell you that you’re no more than fifty miles from wherever you were before, assuming you were still in the area around Paragon City.”
“I… suppose that makes sense,” Lilith said, inhaling slowly, as the events of the last hour hit her even harder. She wasn’t going to break down, though. Not when she didn’t know what had happened for sure. Circe might find a way to escape her destruction… Lilith had to believe that. She had to.
“If you’ll come with me, please?” Wren asked, inclining her head slightly.
“Certainly. Though I have to say… you look vaguely familiar,” Lilith said, frowning a little as she cautiously began following the woman out of the room. Of course, the incongruity she’d noticed seemed to grow even stronger as she stepped into the hallway.
“Mm, not surprising,” Wren said, still sounding amused. “I was at the Las Vegas convention before things went wrong. I left beforehand, so I didn’t get to see everything that happened, I’m afraid… but I followed you around for most of the first day, taking sensor readings.”
Lilith opened her mouth, looking at Wren in a bit of shock, then closed her mouth again, feeling embarrassed. While that likely explained why Wren felt familiar, it just heightened her confusion. So, she turned her attention to the building, which didn’t help.
The hallway was an odd, hexagonal design with angled walls, and most of the surfaces were covered in an almost sinister-looking black metal. Even the lights were set up like numerous spotlights that didn’t quite overlap, so someone walking down the hall would be stepping through a brief area of darkness before reaching the next illuminated area. Yet Wren walked down it like it was just another day in the office, past the spots where Lilith could see that thick, layered blast doors could close, forming an interlocking series of barriers at least four feet thick. It struck her as ridiculously overbuilt… but it also told her that this probably wasn’t the lair of a hero. Why had Circe thought she’d be safe here?
After a few seconds of walking, Lilith spoke up, her voice soft. “This is… imposing.”
“Isn’t it?” Wren asked, glancing over her shoulder as she grinned. “You wouldn’t believe the amount of time it took to get the lights right. Most of the ones that were harsh enough were too hard on the eyes, and then there was getting the mounts shaped so that the transition between light and darkness was just right. I wasn’t here for the construction of the hallways, but I’m told those were easier to design.”
“You seem oddly… enthusiastic,” Lilith said, frowning a little more.
Wren paused, turning to look at Lilith for a couple of seconds, then shrugged, looking amused. “I wouldn’t say enthusiastic, personally. I suppose I am looking forward to seeing the reaction of someone who doesn’t know where they are. Besides, she’s looking forward to meeting you.”
Lilith looked back at Wren, her mood wavering slightly, but she resisted the urge to snap, instead asking softly. “Could we please continue? I’m afraid that I’m in… a poor mood. Amber tried to kill me, and Circe said that she was going to die because she protected me.”
Wren froze, her smile vanishing, and suddenly Lilith saw a glint of something dangerous in the woman’s eyes. Not anger or malevolence, but of intelligence which was… startling, somehow. Then the moment passed, and Wren straightened.
“Ah, I understand how it is. That explains the explosions in orbit, as well as the destruction of numerous facilities we’ve detec
ted over the last few minutes,” Wren said, glancing down at her clipboard, and belatedly Lilith realized that it was a tablet, and text was rapidly scrolling across it. “It’s a shame to hear about Circe, though. I’ve only had occasional dealings with her, but it was always far more pleasant than dealing with Shadowmind herself. But that being the case, we’d best continue.”
When she started moving again, Wren set a brisk pace, passing numerous doors and offshoot tunnels, before coming to what looked like a large, sinister-looking elevator hub. She approached one of the elevators and pressed the call button, only for it to let out a low-pitched bong that seemed to resonate in Lilith’s bones. It opened to show it was lit by red lights, and Wren stepped inside, waiting for Lilith. Once Lilith was inside, she pressed a button and the elevator smoothly began moving downward… then the lights changed.
One moment the lights were red, causing the walls to glisten in an unnerving way. The next they shifted to a warm, sun-like yellow light, and the walls were revealed to be a matte dark gray, causing Lilith to blink in confusion. Before she could process what had just happened the elevator came to a stop with a pleasant ping, and the door opened.
Instead of the dark hallways from above, the hub she could see had pleasant blue carpet, and the walls were normal, with beige wallpaper and occasional sconces that shed regular light. She also saw a pair of people, a man and woman in lab coats, talking as they stepped into another of the elevators, one of them absently waving at Wren while the man took a sip from a mug he was carrying. They looked at Lilith curiously, but that was all.
“What is going on?” Lilith asked, looking back at the elevator after stepping out. Oh, it was still the same general design, but the feel of it had changed dramatically just because of different lighting and a careful paint job.
“You came in through the villain entrance. One has to make proper first impressions.” Wren replied, gesturing at Lilith. “Follow me, please.”
Queen's Gambit (Lilith's Shadow Book 6) Page 16
